Metro Manila to stay under MECQ

MANILA – Metro Manila will remain under the stricter modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) until Sept. 15, Malacañang announced on Tuesday.

This developed after members of the Inter-Agency Task Force of the Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), in its meeting held Tuesday afternoon, decided to defer the pilot implementation of the general community quarantine (GCQ) “with Alert Levels System” in Metro Manila.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the quarantine classification in Metro Manila would only be downgraded to GCQ once the country’s metropolis is ready for the pilot implementation of granular lockdowns.

“Metro Manila’s current risk classification as modified enhanced community quarantine shall be maintained until September 15, 2021, or until the pilot GCQ with Alert Level System is implemented, whichever comes first,” Roque, also acting as IATF-EID spokesperson, said in a press statement.

Metro Manila was supposed to be under regular GCQ from Sept. 8 to 30 to pave the way for the implementation of localized or granular lockdowns in the country’s metropolis.

Following the deferment of GCQ implementation in Metro Manila, indoor and al-fresco dine-in services will remain prohibited, Roque said.

Roque added that personal care services like beauty salons, beauty parlors, and nail spas are likewise not allowed.

Religious services, Roque said, may be performed through “online video recording and transmission.”

Roque said necrological services in wakes, inurnment and funerals can still be attended by immediate family members, so long as the deceased died of non-Covid-19 causes.

“However, they need to show satisfactory proof of their relationship with the deceased and have to comply with the minimum public health standards,” he said.

In a press briefing held earlier Tuesday, Roque said the guidelines on the implementation of localized lockdowns in Metro Manila have yet to be finalized.

Roque likewise said the IATF-EID would also consult the local government units in Metro Manila with regard to the plan to implement granular lockdowns.